“No, and again no!” Infuriated, Befana, the witch, beat her broom on the conference table. “I’ve been in business nearly for three thousand years. But so much false holiness has never occured to me.”
“Befana, certainly it was only a proposal to go abroad in the future.” The infant Jesus tried to appease her. “Nevertheless, it’s in your own interest to find new sales opportunities.”
“Hah! Now, after you have destroyed my local market, you come around with that! Countless generations of Italian children were happy and pleased with the presents I brought them on the 6th of January.”
“If they aren't satisfied any more, you should consider some innovations to promote the demand,” Santa Claus said.
“I don't need to consider this,” Befana hissed at him. “My presents are as good as ever. Respectable Trentine craft work. But you, you’ve got the children insatiable. First the infant Jesus with more and more pretentious Christmas presents! During the last centuries you’ve heated up the consumerism, dropping off the gifts already one month before me. And since some decades even Lucia crowds in, instead of remaining in her Sweden where she belongs to.”
“Oh Befana, with how much pleasure I would limit myself to the Swedish market. You even don’t have snow everywhere.”
“And in Italy it’s bright also in winter,” Befana crowed. “Here no one needs your lights. – Consumerism excess – nothing but consumerism excess.”
Lucia burst into tears: “What should I do then? In Sweden, there’s electric light everywhere, in the houses and on the streets. My light party is only folklore for the tourists. I am asked less and less.”
“Di-ver-si-fi-ca-tion.,” Farm-hand Ruprecht made himself important. “This would have been the right strategy. But, in the meantime, you’ve missed the connection.”
“Yes, you super strategist!” Now also Lucia became angry. “You and Santa Claus, you have rented reindeers and a sleigh, and under the cloak of the international understanding you have spread your legend of Santa Claus everywhere in the world.”
“Take it easy now, guys.” Infant Jesus sighed. “With all this squabbling, we won't get anywhere. Let’s return to the facts.”
“Aye,” Santa Claus called. “And fact is that in the course of general globalisation, a cultural-overlapping demand for Christmas arose. Through the traditional forms of the labor organisation we can't handle the demand any more.”
“And we particularly welcome,” the Infant Jesus added, “that children of all religions believe in the Infant Jesus. Hence, we must go forward in a strategic and clever way so we won’t disappoint this faith.”
“Well, you have a whole army of Christmas angels,” Befana moaned. “In future they should drag presents instead of just singing ‘halleluiah’.”
“If you can't master your work any more, stay away from our home markets,” Lucia suggested. “I’ll intercede with the boss in your favor. Maybe in addition to the reindeers, he will grant you a few elks for the transport.”
“Elks? What do I want with elks,” Ruprecht protested. “Reindeers are our brand.”
“Phh.” Befana laughed contemptuously. “You talk about di-ver-si-ca-tion, yet you don’t want your own vehicle park be di-ser-vi-cized. - Jesus, what word! – Probably you don't even know what it means!”
“It’s called di-ver-si-fi-ca-ti-on - variety,” Ruprecht said.
“You are hypocrites, yes!” Lucia interrupted him. “Befana is quite right. First you expand everywhere, can't get enough. And now that you can't master all those orders in time, you want to link us to your carriage.” Lucia jumped up in anger and her candle wreath started to sway critically.
Also Santa Claus started. He thundered his rod at the table: “What’s the matter now, Lucia? You surely have profited for ages by our globalisation strategy. Your candle business registers two-digit growth rates every winter.”
Sample from "Magical Stories". Short story collection. E-Book. English edition of "Magische Geschichten".
Available at Amazon Kindle USA, Amazon Kindle UK , Barnes&Noble,worldwide at the different iTunes-stores and at Smashwords, other retailers and also in the French "Boutique Kindle" and the German Kindle Shop.
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